Chemicals React
by XxEternalHeartsxX
Summary: When Ricky calls Amy, they finally open up. Ricky's dropping hints around her, and she actually finds herself flirting back, and when they spend some time together, something happens. Ben and Amy slowly grow apart, and Ricky and Amy both have a secret.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so after watching the promo for the new episode 'Hot Nuts', I decided to write this story, since my other one didn't turn out too well. Anyway, Let me know if you like this story or not and I'll continue writing it.

___

"Amy, would you please at least let me talk to you?" Ricky called to Amy, following after her into the kitchen of her house. It was eight at night, and Ricky was trying to get Amy to let him take John over to his apartment for the night. She decided he wasn't going to give up, so she turned around and, aggravated, she placed her hands on her hips.

"Okay, talk," she snapped to him, releasing a loud sigh.

Ricky groaned as he became impatient and said, "Look, I know you don't like me taking care of John for some reason, but he is my son as much as he is yours. If I want to have him at my apartment, I will. If I want Adrian to hold him, then she will. She isn't going to hurt him, and I'm not going to hurt him, so I don't see the problem."

She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Of course you don't. There's never a problem with you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, confused.

"I don't know. What do you want it to mean?"

"Um," he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I have no idea at all what you meant by that, but I'm going to get John." He headed towards the hallway to Amy's room but was stopped halfway when he heard her groan.

He turned around and sighed, "What?"

"I don't want you taking him over there! Especially if Adrian's going to be over there with you! He's my son, Ricky, and you can't just take him over to your apartment without my permission," she practically yelled at him.

"Well, don't I have your permission?," Ricky asked.

They both stood there, glowering at each other for a moment, before Amy rolled her eyes and finally answered, "No, you don't have my permission."

"Look, I don't care! I'm taking him over there whether you like it or not!" he said angrily, restraining himself from yelling. He turned quickly around and sauntered

"No! You're not!" She shouted. When she reached her room, she saw Ricky standing in there, already holding John as he got ready to leave.

"Oh, yes I am, Amy!" He insisted.

"No you aren't!" She argued, annoyed, as she followed Ricky out into the living room where he was taking John. "Stop! You aren't taking him! You can't do that! I said I don't want you taking him over there!"

"I don't care," he replied.

"I know you don't. You don't care about anything or anyone except yourself and doing whatever you want. You never listen to anyone! You just do whatever you want to do, but you aren't going to anymore! Not if you want to see John."

He laughed and said, "You can't stop me from seeing my son. I _am_ taking him over to my apartment, and you're just gonna have to get over it. Adrian was right. You think you know everything just because you have a baby. But you don't, so maybe you should grow up and see that."

"Excuse me?" She said in a low, annoyed voice. "You think I need to _grow up?_ Ricky, I do not think I know everything! You need to grow up and realize that the whole world does not center around you, and you can't always get whatever you want."

"That's not true," he said smugly. "I usually end up getting what I want." He smirked.

"Well not this time!" Amy yelled at him. She grabbed John away from him and took him into her own hands. "If you want John to go over there, then you better keep Adrian away from him!"

Ricky laughed quietly to himself and smirked, "Why? Are you jealous of Adrian or somethin'?"

She pulled her eyebrows together and shook her head in disbelief. "What? Of course I'm not jealous!" She rolled her eyes at him and said scornfully,"Why would I be jealous of Adrian?"

"I don't know. Maybe because she's sleeping with me," he said egotistically.

"So? I don't care. Why would I be jealous of that?" Amy asked as she folded her arms across her chest. "But maybe you could take a break from that for a while."

"Maybe I don't want to."

"I bet you don't," she murmured. "You know what? I don't even really care what you do. Just take John over to your apartment if you have to, but you keep Adrian away from him. I mean that, Ricky. If I see her over there again when you have John there then-"

"Then you can't do anything about it, and you won't. Give me my son," he said furiously.

Ricky carefully snatched John away from Amy and glared at her for a second before walking toward the door. Before he could open it, the door flew open and revealed Ben standing there in the doorway.

"Oh." He said, shocked. "I just came over to see Amy. I wasn't spying or anything."

"Okay? I never said you were." He turned around and smirked as he said smoothly, sounding fake, "Bye Amy, see you at school."

She nodded, waiting until he shut the door before rolling her eyes to herself. She folded her arms again across her chest and scowled at Ben. "What are you doing here so late? Are you sure you weren't spying on me?"

"I'm not. I- uh, didn't think it was that late. It's only nine o'clock, right?"

"Yep, but we have school tomorrow." She said, but changed the subject, "Ricky and I weren't doing anything if that's what you're thinking. I don't know what it is about you and Adrian that makes you _constantly_ jealous, but it is really starting to annoy me."

"I'm not jealous. I really just wanted to see you, Amy, jeez. What's wrong? I mean, you can't really tell me that I have nothing at all to be jealous of. You and Ricky were- um, involved last year. It's not likely for someone to just get over that so quickly."

She stared at him in disbelief and shouted, "Ben! How could you say that? See, you are jealous! And you can't honestly tell me that I don't have anything to be jealous of! Did you do something this summer, Ben?"

"Excuse me? Did I what?"

"Did you have sex in Bologna this summer?" She said slowly. "Truthfully, did you? You've been acting really weird lately, and I.. I just really don't know what to believe anymore. I really don't. So if you did have sex, then it would be so much easier on me if you would just tell me. Then I wouldn't have to worry about it every day. So it'd be a lot better if you would just tell me."

He looked down at the floor and sighed before looking back up at her and saying quietly, "I think we need to take a break for a while."

"Oh, you do? So that must mean that you _did_ have sex this summer, and you breaking up with me is just a way to cover it."

"No, I just.." He let out a loud, painful breath and put his hand around her arm. "Amy, when I went to Italy, I-"

"Don't tell me! I already know," she interrupted him.

"No, just let me continue," he demanded. He looked at Amy and waited a few seconds before continuing, "When I went to Italy, I- I saw so many couples, they just looked so happy and care-free. They didn't have to try so hard at their relationship, and that- that's what I want. I thought we used to be that way, but it's been getting really hard for me lately. I understand why and I know you're going through a lot now, but I just want to take some time for a while. I do love you Amy, and I want to be you forever. But I need more than that. I need more than just barely getting by- barely talking to each other without getting upset about something, barely hanging out anymore. We just have to try so hard, or at least I do, and it never seems to be enough for you. Maybe things have happened the way they have for a reason. It might sound crazy, especially to me, but maybe the reason you had a baby is because you were meant to be with Ricky, and maybe we just weren't meant to be. But you have to realize that I _do_ love you, and nothing will ever change the way I feel about you. It's just different now than it was- not for me really, but for you. I still love you as much as I always have. I just.. I need more than that. I need happiness and freedom and love, real love.. I'm sorry, Amy, that things have happened the way they have..I wish it could be different, but it can't be."

Ben looked at Amy with sad eyes and saw she was crying, and he realized that he also had tears in his eyes. Amy forced herself to look up at him, and she said, "I'm so sorry, Ben! I understand. And I want that, too, but it's really hard when I have a baby!"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you," he continued. "I don't care that you have a baby. I want.. I want a relationship that understands the flaws and just accepts them and somehow learn to love each other from that." Ben quickly wiped the tear from his eye and leaned in and kissed Amy. "Bye, Amy."

_**_

"Ricky, it's me. Open the door," Ricky heard Adrian say from behind the door. He groaned silently to himself and placed John down into his high chair behind his kitchen. He hesitated as he thought about what Amy said about not wanting Adrian around John. Adrian continued knocking on the door, so he let it go and decided to open the door for her.

"Can I help you?" He asked, slightly annoyed, barely opening the door to look at her standing there.

"Yeah you can actually," she said seductively with a smirk on her face. "But you could start by letting me in."

Ricky smirked back at her and said egotistically, "Amy says you aren't allowed to come over when John's here."

She laughed furiously and scowled. "I don't care what _Amy_ says. If you want me here, then it doesn't really matter what she wants. She'll get over it. She's a mother, it's about time for her to grow up a little."

Ricky stared at her after finally letting her in and asked, "Have you been talking to Amy or something?"

"Yeah, I've talked to her a few times, but she's not really that fun to talk to," she said indifferently.

"Well, obviously you've talked to her before. That isn't what I meant. Have you talked to her tonight after I left her house?"

"No, I haven't. What makes you think that?"

"Nothing. Just forget it. So, did you want something? What do you want?" He asked as he walked away from Adrian. He picked up John from his high chair, and he held him in his arms as he walked back over to Adrian.

"Oh, I always want something." She replied.

"Well, I'm busy tonight," he replied, playing hard to get.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Busy with what? Or I guess a better question is, busy with who? With Amy?"

Ricky rolled his eyes at her jealousy. "No. I'm just busy. We aren't married or anything, I don't have to tell you what I'm doing. I have my son here if you can't see that. I'm not in the mood for company."

"You're _always_ in the mood for company," she corrected him. "But if you want, I guess I'll just leave. I wish you'd let me stay, but I get it.." She started walking towards the door. She turned around in the doorway to face him and continued, smirking, "But I could come back in the morning."

"John will still be with me in the morning," he replied quickly. "I'll just see you later, I guess.

She crossed her arms and stood there glaring at him. "You _guess_? Can't Amy just pick him up in the morning? Or can you not drop him off?"

Ricky gently rocked John back and forth as he fed him and said disinterestedly, "She might be over here in the morning to get him, I don't really know. She didn't even want me to take him over here. But like I said, I'm too busy to play now."

"Mhm, I'm sure you are," she said with sarcasm. "Fine then, I'll just see you at school. But are you sure you don't want me to sleep over? It'd be worth it."

Without looking at her, he said, "I'm very sure." He put John back down and walked over to the door. "Bye, Adrian," and with that, he shut the door after she left.

"Finally, she's gone," he said to John and mostly himself.

He nonchalantly plopped down onto his couch and picked up his phone. Hesitatingly, he dialed a number and smiled smugly to himself. This was sure to make Adrian jealous.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter continues a few days after the last episode of Secret Life where Amy and Ricky were talking on the phone. Hope you like it. Please review, or else i won't know what you think about it! So, review, review, REVIEW! Lol. =D

-

"Hello?" Ricky asked into the phone after there was finally an answer. "Hello, Amy?" Ricky had a small, evil smirk on his face as at the same time he looked up nervously at the clock. The clock read exactly ten; he hadn't realized how late it was before he called her.

"Um, yes, Ricky?" He heard Amy say. "Wh- why are you calling? Is everything okay with John? What happened?" Ricky shook his head and sighed. _'Of course she was going to assume something was wrong with John. What was I thinking?', _He thought to himself.

"Nothing has happened to John. Everything's fine. God, Amy, don't you trust me?" He waited only a second for her answer, but he ignored her once he heard her laugh sarcastically, and he continued speaking. "I was just wondering if-" He paused and mentally slapped himself. He hadn't even thought about what he was going to say. All that was on his mind was making Adrian jealous. Without thinking, he said the first thing that came to his mind, "I was wondering if you wanted to come over."

He buried his face into his hands and groaned silently as he waited for a response, already expecting what she would say. "Um, what?" She said, sounding appalled. He laughed to himself as he had been expecting this. "Why would I come over there?"

He decided he would take a risk, no matter how upset she would be at him. Adrian would be so jealous, and that's what he wanted. He chuckled with an egotistic smirk on his face as he said jokingly, "To have sex with me."

_'Be careful, Ricky, this is Amy you're talking to,"_ he thought.

"Uh, you're kidding, right?" She finally said, her voice filled with surprise.

He covered his mouth with his hand so Amy wouldn't hear him laughing. He finally stopped laughing as he found his voice again, and he playfully said, "Or I could come over to your house."

"Yeah, I don't think so," she said firmly. "Are you joking? Seriously, Ricky, is Adrian too busy or something?" He rolled his eyes and sighed. He started to speak, but Amy continued, "Or is Adrian over there right now? Is this some kind of sick prank or something?"

He felt the urge to explode with laughter when she said that, but he quickly shook it off and replied, "No, this isn't a prank. Adrian isn't even over here. She was, but I wasn't in the mood for her tonight, so I made her leave. You sure you don't want to take my offer?"

He heard her swallow loudly before saying, "Yeah, I'm very sure."

"All right," he said, pretending to sound sad. He thought for a moment and had an idea. "I think Adrian might be with Ben right now, so I just thought I would call you and see if you wanted to-"

"Wait, what?" She cut him off. "Adrian's with _Ben?_ That slut!" Ricky suddenly felt the tension build up inside of him when she said that, but he ignored it and let her continue talking. "Are you sure? They're together right now? How do you know?"

"Uh, Adrian told me," he said, not knowing what else to say. "So if you want to make them jealous, you could come over here. We could-"

"Ricky," she cut him off again. "I- I don't even know for sure that Ben is with her. He- he wouldn't do that to me, would he?"

"Maybe you should ask yourself that question," he told her. "Nobody's perfect, Amy."

"_He_ was," she mumbled. "Until I had a baby. _Your _baby. That's probably why he's acting this way. I'm just not enough for him anymore. So, you _were _joking, weren't you? Or were you actually serious?"

Ricky sighed and decided she wouldn't go along with it, so he gave up. "Yeah, yeah, I was just kidding. Unless of course, you don't want me to be joking, then in that case I would be serious."

"Um, you know I want you to be joking. I hope you are, at least. I don't know whether you are or not, but I hope you are," she said. Ricky sighed quietly, realizing his plan wasn't successful, unless Adrian found out he asked Amy over. But Amy wouldn't tell her, would she? Ricky wasn't only upset because of that, but he also kind of wanted her to say yes and come over. He knew she wouldn't, though. Ricky couldn't say anything, for he couldn't think of anything to say. But thankfully Amy finally broke the silence. "Ricky, I should probably go. I'm kind of tired. Good night."

'_But it's only ten,"_ He thought to himself. He waited only two short seconds before saying quickly to stop her from hanging up, "No, wait, don't hang up." He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He let the air back out and said, "It's only ten. We could stay on the phone and just talk."

There was a long pause before he heard Amy nervously say, "Uh, I don't know. There really isn't anything to talk about. Why would you want to talk to me? Since when are you interested in being my friend?" Ricky nervously licked his lips and thought about what she said for a moment.

"Come on, we're friends, aren't we? We might as well be. We have a son together. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"No," she said. "I can't. There's a lot I can't talk to you about. I've never trusted you before. Why would I start now? Seriously, Ricky, what's going on with you tonight? Are you sure Adrian isn't over there and you two aren't secretly making fun of me or something?"

"No," he assured her. "Adrian isn't here. I told you, she left around an hour ago. And nothing is going on with me, I just want to talk to you, that's all. Is that too much to ask?"

"It isn't, but I don't really understand why," she said slowly. They both remained on the phone silent for a second before Amy said, "So, how's John?" Ricky smiled instantly and his face lit up when she said that. He smiled at his son and to himself as he thought about the idea of he and Amy actually being friends. He would love not to argue with her all the time, and for them just to get along.

He sauntered over to John and scooped him up from his high chair, and Ricky carried him into his room. He gently laid John down onto the bed as he sat down beside him and held him in his arms. "John's fine," Ricky finally answered, a complacent and charmed smile on his face. "How are _you_?" He smirked.

John looked up at the ceiling and pointed, and Ricky laughed and pulled him closer to him while he heard Amy say, "I'm _okay_.."

"What happened?" Ricky asked immediately, sensing that something was wrong.

"It's nothing, really," she said. After Ricky didn't say anything, she continued, "It's just Ben. He came over here earlier and said he wanted to 'take a break for a while'. He said he wanted 'happiness and freedom', but he isn't going to get that with me. Not when I have a baby. I'm cooped up all day with John, and if Ben can't understand then I guess I really shouldn't even care. But I do care. I do love Ben. I really do, but I get tired of him sometimes. And now I find out the he's with Adrian? That's ridiculous. He probably broke up with me because he wanted to have sex. He probably had sex in Italy, but he isn't going to tell me anything," she mumbled, and Ricky could sense the annoyance in her voice as she opened up to him.

Ricky nodded to himself, barely listening, as he looked down at John. He suddenly realized what she said and felt guilty for lying about Ben. "Uh, Ben isn't actually with Adrian right now. I just said that to, um-"

"So you lied? Why would you do that? I knew I couldn't trust you," she muttered furiously.

"Sorry. I called you, trying to make Adrian jealous, but I hadn't really planned out what I was going to say to you before you answered so I said the first thing that came to me. I thought if I told you Adrian was with Ben that you would be so upset that you would-"

"That I would what?" She interrupted, angry. "That I would sleep with you? I'm not like that, Ricky!"

"I wasn't going to say that," he said, although he knew that that's actually what he was going to say, so he was glad she interrupted him before he said something that would get him into trouble.

"Mmhm," she mumbled, unconvinced. Ricky suddenly jumped when he saw the door of his room fly open, and standing there was Adrian. He quietly whispered into the phone, "Um, Amy, I have to go."

Adrian raised an eyebrow at him, and Ricky smirked and said, "Come over if you change your mind." He laughed after he hung up and saw Adrian standing there, her arms folded together angrily.

"Why were you talking to Amy?" Adrian asked after Ricky wouldn't say anything. She stared at him holding John and pursed her lips together. "Why did you tell her to come over if she changed her mind? Changed her mind about what? Did you ask her to have sex with you or something?"

"No," he lied. "Didn't you just leave? Why'd you come back? How did you even get in here? I thought I locked the door."

"Maybe you should be more careful, because it wasn't locked. And I came back because I wanted to." She hesitated before she sat down with Ricky on the bed. "Now tell me why you said what you said to Amy."

"I don't have to tell you anything," he snapped to her. "You tell me why you came back!"

"Actually," she began, seductively putting her hand around his arm as she smirked at him. "I never left." She stared at Ricky as she examined the look on his face which showed anger, and her expression quickly changed. "I heard the whole conversation with Amy. Although I'm mad at you for wanting to cheat on me, I think it's kind of funny how you tried to make me jealous."

"You never left? You heard the whole conversation? What is wrong with you!" He yelled at her. Adrian grabbed Ricky's hand and smiled up at him as she said flirtatiously, "Nothing's wrong with me. I can't believe you asked her to come over here, but I'm giving you the chance to make it up to me."

"My son is here," he said coldly.

"So? He's not gonna know what's going on." Ricky ignored her and sighed. He got up from the bed and placed John into his own bed as Adrian followed him.

"Ricky," Adrian whimpered. She grabbed him around the waist and said, "Tell me you love me."

"What?" He asked sheepishly. "No," he shook his head, trying to ignore her. "You need to get out of my apartment. John is here, and it would be irresponsible for me to have sex with you while he's here."

"No, I don't think it would," she pressed on. "But if that really worries you, then we could go in the living room on the couch, and John could stay in here.."

"Adrian, has it ever crossed your mind that maybe I'm just not interested in having sex?" He asked, raising one eyebrow at her. Her eyes narrowed together as she let out a quick laugh.

"No, actually it hasn't. You and I both know that it isn't true. You need sex. You belong with me and not Amy, why are you going after her, Ricky? Can't you see she isn't interested? She's with Ben."

Ricky sighed loudly and walked out of his bedroom and toward the living room where he and Adrian stood beside the door. "I'm not going after her. I was just joking with her on the phone, and she knows it and so do you. For the last time, my son is here. I told you to leave earlier, and you came back. If you can't respect me, then I'm not going to respect you."

She laughed angrily and scowled while saying, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean," he shot back at her. He walked over to the door and held it open for her. She didn't move at first, but Ricky smirked and said, "I'll be over there in the morning before school."

She nodded and sighed as she walked over to the doorway. Ricky looked nervously away from her until she walked out, and he shut the door as she left. Ricky picked up his cellphone from his pocket and dialed Amy's number.

He went into his bedroom with John and sat down in the middle of the bed as he waited for her to pick up. There was finally an answer after four rings. "Hello?"

Ricky felt his heart pounding in his chest. He took a deep breath before saying, "Hey, Amy. Adrian came over again, so I had to get rid of her. Also, I hope you aren't mad about what I asked you earlier on the phone? I just, I really hope we can be friends. I- I don't know why I said what I said, but I hope I didn't offend you."

There was a short pause before Ricky heard her say, "You- you didn't. I just wasn't expecting that. I- I want to be your friend, too. I mean, I'm gonna need someone." She sighed and her voice cracked, and Ricky could tell that she was crying. "Everything is just so hard right now with Ben breaking up with me and.. you know."

"I know," he agreed. "Everything will be okay. You know that, right? Ben doesn't deserve you, Amy. You're too good for him."

"No, I'm not," she started choking up in her tears. "I'm sixteen years old and I have a baby, and you think I'm too good for him? Ben has been really supportive and good to me for a long time, and now he's gone. I have no one," she cried.

"Amy," he said in a calming tone. "You have your mom, your dad, your sister, your friends, John," he swallowed the lump in his throat and smiled. "And you have me."

"I know," her voice cracked again. Ricky waited a few seconds before finally saying, "So, you want to come over? We can talk about it. You need someone to talk to."

"I- I don't know. I can't come over to your apartment," she told him.

"Yeah, you can if you want. Come on, Amy. I promise I won't try to do anything with you. It's not like it'll be the first time. I've spent the night with you, what's the difference if you spend the night with me?"

"The difference is that you stayed the night because of John. If I go over there, it's not going to be about John. It's because for some reason you want me over there, and I- I don't know."

"So we'll say it's about John. Let me come over there then, if that'll make it any better."

She sniffled. "I- I guess that would be okay."

"All right. I'll be over there in ten minutes," he told her gently before hanging up. He put his phone into his pocket and was lost in his thoughts for a moment. He couldn't believe that he and Amy had just opened up to each other that much. Ricky figured it was only because she was upset so she just went along with it, but he was hoping it was more than that.

Although Ricky liked Adrian, he had feelings for Amy. They had been there all along, but now that he knew there was a chance Amy felt the same way, he wanted to work for a relationship with her.

Ricky walked over to John and softly took him out of his bed so he wouldn't wake him. Seeing that John had woken up, Ricky said gently and quietly, "Hey, John. You want to go see your Mommy?" John let out a soft cooing noise and Ricky laughed as he said, "Yeah, me too."


	3. Chapter 3

Ricky walked up to the door that led into Amy's kitchen and casually rang the doorbell. He could feel his heart pounding loudly in his chest as he stood there and waited, and when the door opened it was Amy's mother standing there.

"Oh, hey Ricky. You're here late. Is John okay?" She asked, smiling at John. Ricky glanced at his watch at the time; it was eleven thirty. Ricky had forgot that they had school tomorrow, but he didn't worry about it since Amy already said he could come over.

"John's fine. I just thought that-" He paused for a second to think of what to say. "I just thought maybe Amy would want John over here tonight since we have school in the morning, and I'll stay over and help with John. Is that okay?"

She looked at him suspiciously for a second, but then smiled warmly and said, "That's fine. Come in, Ricky." After Ricky walked inside the kitchen and shut the door, Anne smiled at John and cooed, "Hey, John."

Ricky chuckled and walked down the hallway into Amy's room and found her asleep on her bed on top of the covers. Ricky smiled and put John into the bassinet that was beside Amy's bed. He contemplated his movements as he slowly sat down on the far edge of the bed. He looked straight ahead at the wall, hoping she would wake up soon.

He sat there for what seemed like a long time, restlessly listening to the ticking of the clock, which was the only noise audible in the room. Besides that, it was completely silent, almost uncomfortably silent. Suddenly, he felt tired as he sat there listening to the silence. He decided that Amy wasn't going to wake up any time soon. He lay back on the bed beside her and stared up at the wall. He was determined to stay up a little while, so he could wait to see if Amy would wake up or not.

As he lay there beside Amy, he was having a flashback. He closed his eyes tightly so he could have a more vivid image in his mind.

_"Hey," he had said, walking up to the table which she was sitting at._

_"Hi," she said nervously. _Ricky remembered the way she looked at that exact moment. He missed how she used to be. He missed her innocence, and it hurt him knowing that he took that after from her. But he thought that maybe, just maybe, he had seen that same Amy again when he was on the phone with her tonight.

_"Are you Amy?" She nodded._

_"I'm Ricky. Someone told me you're going to Grant in the Fall."_

_"Yeah, Grant Highschool, you mean." He smiled._

"Ricky?" He suddenly was pulled out of his memory as he heard Amy just waking up. He nervously jumped a little bit, but then quickly sat up and slightly scooted back, towards the end of the bed.

He smiled, but he knew Amy couldn't see him because of how dark it was. The only light was coming from the hallway, but her door was halfway shut which barely allowed the light to enter in her room. Finally, he decided he had to say something and said, "Sorry. I, uh, was just waiting for you to wake up."

"Oh, were you expecting me to wake up or something?" She asked groggily.

_'What kind of question is that?' _he thought to himself before saying, "Not really. I was just gonna wait to see if you would. Sorry. I-" He stood up from the bed. "I'll turn the light on. I didn't realize how dark it was."

Amy sat up from the bed as he turned the light on, and Ricky slowly walked near the bed, but instead sat in the chair beside her bed. He suddenly felt guilty for what he had said on the phone. Now that he was with her in person, it felt strange, and he knew Amy thought the same thing. But in a way he was glad he said it. Amy couldn't have been too upset about it, or else she wouldn't have let him come over.

"I- I'm sorry, Amy. Go back to sleep. I know you're tired," he told her.

"Yeah, I am. Sorry," she whispered. "I'll stay awake if there's anything you wanted to tell me or talk to me about or something." He slightly narrowed his eyes at the way she said that. She said it like it was some kind of hint or something.

"No, it's okay, really. Just go to sleep. I'll just sleep in this chair," he told her. He heard her chuckle softly and turn over in the bed.

Ricky leaned back in the chair and just stared across the room at the wall, not trying to fall asleep. He sat there for a while and realized that Amy had probably already fell asleep. He got up from the chair and walked over to John and looked at him from his bassinet. "Goodnight, John. I love you, "he whispered. He laughed smugly and walked over to the bed and lay down beside Amy.

He decided to just enjoy the moment while it lasted, even though Amy would probably yell at him in the morning for sleeping in the same bed as her. But he didn't care. He closed his eyes and finally fell asleep.

____

"Did you hear?" Adrian asked the next morning. She was on the phone with Grace, and it was only six o' clock, but this was important to her. "Did you hear that _Ricky," _she said scornfully, "called Amy and asked her to come over and have sex with him?"

"No," Grace said. "I didn't hear about that. Did he really? Wow."

"Yep," she murmured. "I knew it. I knew he was interested in her, but I don't care. Ricky wants me, and he needs _me_ and definitely not her. He isn't gonna leave me. I won't let him."

"Well have you talked to him about it, and told him how you feel about him cheating on you?" She asked.

"Um, yeah! I told him I didn't want him seeing other girls! I can't believe he's going after Amy, though. _Ugh,_" she groaned. "I think I'm gonna call Ricky. We'll see if he's gotten over me. I'll see you at school."

"Bye! Good luck," she said.

"Mmhmm," Adrian muttered. She hung up and dialed Ricky's number, and it rang four times before there was an answer.

"Yes?" he asked. She sighed, he had never said that before when answering his phone.

"Hey, you still want to come over? Or are you too busy with Amy?"

"Uh, I'll be there in ten minutes. Bye," he whispered, and hung up. Adrian smirked and hung up, and she put her phone down and sat down on the bed.

_______

"Who was that?" Amy asked Ricky. He hadn't noticed she was awake as she came up from behind him. Ricky looked nervously up at her and looked away for a second without saying anything.

"Adrian," he finally replied.

"Oh," she said. "You're going over there?" She rolled her eyes and folded her arms together across her chest.

"Why do you care?" He asked.

"I care because you called me yesterday and asked me to come over, then you asked if you could over and stay the night. And so you did, and now you're about to go sleep with your girlfriend, or is she really even your girlfriend? It doesn't seem that way to me."

"Hey, I know you're jealous, but-"

"I am NOT jealous! I have no reason to be jealous. I just don't want you to come over here to see your son and then go over there to sleep with that _slut_!"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, you didn't want to have sex with me, so you shouldn't care if I have sex with Adrian. The only reason I can think of is jealousy." Amy looked away, and Ricky sighed and continued talking, "Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to have sex with you- I'm not. I'm just saying that-"

"Forget it," she mumbled. "It doesn't even matter. Go over there. I don't care. Like you said, I have no reason to care. All you are to me is my son's father. So I don't care. Have fun. I'll see you at school, maybe."

"Amy-"

"No," she cut him off. "I said I don't care."

"Oh really?" He asked. "I think you do care. Would you care if I said that I'm _not _going over there?"

"No, because you aren't going to say that. _Of course_ you're going over there with her."

"Actually," he said, smirking. "I don't think I will today."


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, so just so you know, this chapter (and story) is after the season finale. Originally it wasn't, but I've decided, after seeing the last episode, that this is happening after. I'm not trying to stick to the storyline or anything (like the actual episodes from the show), but I'm trying to keep it in character. So, hope you like this chapter. Since it's short, I promise I'll update really soon!

**Happy readings! =D**

_______

_Previous chapter:_

_"Oh really?" He asked. "I think you do care. Would you care if I said that I'm not going over there?"_

_"No, because you aren't going to say that. Of course you're going over there with her."_

_"Actually," he said, smirking. "I don't think I will today."_

________

"Oh, really?" I said doubtfully. He nodded with a huge smirk on his face and I said, "Then what do you plan on doing?"

Great. Now he was going to assume I was hitting on him or something. "Well," he began, "I guess I'm not planning on doing anything. Unless," He paused when I raised my eyebrow, but he ignored me and continued. "Unless you wanted to make plans or something?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Not like that," he informed me. _Well, duh. _But what kind of "plans" did he want to make? It seemed kind of suspicious to me, but that isn't what I was thinking. "I just meant- do you want to do something tonight.. I mean," he stopped himself, shaking his head. "Go somewhere. Do you want to go somewhere tonight or something?"

Was he asking me out on a date? At least that's what it sounded like. I really didn't know what to say, so all I did was stand there staring at him like an idiot. His eyes sparkled as he chuckled, and I was surprised when I caught myself smiling. Why was I smiling at his seductive act? He wasn't fooling me. I could see right through it.

"I didn't mean do anything _like that_. It's just, since Robbie was born it's been kind of busy around here. Maybe we could go somewhere tonight?"

I looked up at him and stared at him, surprised, for a few seconds. He grinned, looking back at me attentively, and I realized I had to say something. I took a deep breath. "Where- where would we go?" A shiver ran through my body when I said where would _we_ go. It just sounded so.. weird to say- the _we_ part. But I kind of liked it.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I was just thinking maybe we could go somewhere. It doesn't really matter where. But just to get out of the house, you know?"

"Like.." I swallowed nervously. "A date?"

He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders again. "Not really. If you want it to be a date, then sure. If not, then okay. It isn't a date. It doesn't matter. I know we have school this morning, but what do you say we ditch?" He smirked.

I laughed sarcastically. "We can't ditch school! We- we can go after school. But you have to tell me where we're going," I said shyly.

Okay, so I've decided to give up the whole 'I hate Ricky' thing. He was obviously trying to be my friend, so I was just going to go along with it. But I wasn't gonna let him take advantage of me again. I had to be careful; this could be a trick.

"Well," he was quiet for a few seconds, looking like he was thinking about it. Then he smiled smugly and finally said quickly after clearing his throat, "We... we could go over to my apartment in case you've changed your mind about having sex with me, or we could go to.. the beach, or something?"

I swallowed again, and for some reason I thought of Ben. If Ricky and I did go out, he would definitely find out and be jealous. It's not that I care anyway, but it would be funny for Ben to think we're going out. I didn't know what I was thinking. I must have utterly lost my mind when I said, "You know what, I think I'll come over to your apartment."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"Um," I said nervously, instantly regretting what I had said. "I- I guess. But we aren't having sex."

"Okay," he sighed with a smile on his face. "Then what are we gonna do?"

"I-" I sighed, not knowing what to say. Finally, I forced myself to speak. "This is as a friend only, Ricky. So don't try to do anything with me." _Like that would stop him. _I paused for a brief moment. "I must be entirely crazy for saying this, but... I'll see you tonight."

He laughed smugly and growled, "Can't wait." I felt nervous as soon as he said that, and I realized that maybe I had made a mistake. But I was only a million times as nervous when he looked me up and down and brushed his fingers through my hair. Then, he actually took my hand and kissed my wrist. My heart was pounding, and I didn't know what I had gotten myself into. Did Ricky think I was hitting on him or something? He moved the kiss all the way to the back of my wrist, and then he stared at my speechless and shocked expression and laughed, making his way out the door.

I listened for the door being shut, and then stood there, frozen in surprise. A tiny smile was forming on my face as I touched my wrist where he kissed me. I bit my lip, and I jumped when I saw my dad walking in.

"Morning, Ames," he said.

"Uh, g- good morning, Dad," I said nervously. I ran my fingers through my hair and folded my arms across my fluttery stomach.

"Everything okay?" He asked suspiciously but not looking at me as he plugged in the toaster.

I nodded quickly. "Y- yeah." _No, Dad, everything is not okay. I just told Ricky that I'm coming over to his apartment tonight. I don't know what I was thinking. Oh, yeah, but the worst part is that I kind of want to. Oh, and he kissed me, and I liked it! _Yeah, I could definitely not tell him that. He would freak out.

"Just making sure. I'll see you later, Ames. I have to take Ashley to school. Your mother's taking you, right?" He asked.

I nodded, incapable of saying anything. Right as he walked out of the kitchen, my mom walked in and smiled curiously. "Are you ready for school?"

_No. _"Yep," I lied.

It took ten minutes to get to John's daycare, as it always did. We walked him in, and the whole ride to school I went over and over in my head what Ricky and I were gonna do. He wouldn't try anything, would he? All day, I couldn't get it out of my mind. I was so nervous, but at the same time I was kind of anxious. Like, anxious-excited. I couldn't even concentrate in any of my classes. All I thought about was when Ricky kissed my wrist and the look on his face and how he laughed and said so irresistibly, "Can't wait." It was like he was trying to lure me into him or something, which is no surprise, but still.

After school was over, I raced down the hall to my locker and slammed it shut after putting my books inside. I saw Ricky standing beside me. All I did was raise my hand to a tiny wave as I was staring into his dazzling eyes.

_Oh, darn. _Did I just say _dazzling eyes?_ No, this can't be happening! Please tell me I'm not falling for Ricky! The thought was just terrible and wrong- being attracted to Ricky, going over to his apartment tonight all alone with him. What would we do? I knew it was just so wrong, and even though I kept telling myself this was so bad, I seriously liked it. I liked it a lot.


	5. Chapter 5

I hope you all like this chapter. It's kind of weird, I think, lol but hopefully in a good way. Lol, I've been on a writing streak lately. Haha, anyway, review!! =D

__

The second that Ricky was unlocking the door to his apartment, I knew this was a terrible, terrible idea. I just kept feeling like this was a trap Ricky was planning to get me to sleep with him again or something.

I jumped, startled, at the sound of the door squeaking open as it became unlocked. I was even more nervous when Ricky stood there and held the door open for me, gesturing for me to go inside first. I gulped and went in, and then my heart starting racing once he shut the door and we were in this apartment together. Completely alone.

Suddenly, I heard it starting to rain and thunder. I flinched when lightning struck and it lit up the whole room for a quick second.

"Umm.." Ricky began. "I guess I should turn on a light or something. I thought I had left it on." _Yeah, right, Ricky! _I bet this is just part of his little scheme, but I'm not falling for it. Nope. Okay, maybe I would play along just for a little while. Ben would be jealous if he found out, and that would be a total bonus. But I was _not_ going to let him take advantage of me again. No way.

Ricky walked over to the wall and flicked on the switch, but nothing happened. It remained completely dark in the room. "I guess the electricity's out," he said. Oh, perfect. Just my luck! How weird is it that as soon as we got over here, a storm came? And now the electricity's off! It's like God's trying to get us together or something. I shook my head. Okay, there's no way that's true. It's just bad timing, that's all. The lights can't stay off for too long, can they? I mean, the longest I've known the lights to stay off is just for a few hours.

I shuddered. A few hours, completely alone with Ricky in the dark.

"So, Amy," he said after another loud burst of thunder. "What do you want to do?" The room was pitch black dark, and I couldn't see anything. Literally. That only added to my nervousness and made me so much more frantic about being over here- on top of him asking me _what I want to do_.

"I don't know," I replied nervously.

"Well, it was your idea to come over here. I offered the beach, and you said this would be fine. So, you must want to do something," he said. I came to the conclusion that he was just desperate to have sex. Maybe Adrian was ignoring him or something. I don't know.

I finally got the courage to speak. "Ricky, could we just talk or something? I really don't want to _do_ anything."

"Okay, okay. That's fine. We can talk," he said.

My phone suddenly was vibrating in my pocket, and it was so loud that I knew Ricky could hear it even though he was still standing over at the door. I took my phone out of my pocket, and I had three text messages and one missed call.

The text messages were from Ben.

**Amy we need 2 talk call me **

**I no u might be mad but i just want 2 talk 2 u**

**I still love u Amy i hope i didn't hurt you**

I rolled my eyes. I thought Ben was over the annoyingly possessive-clinginess thing that he used to have. Ignoring his texts, I punched in the number and listened to the voicemail.

"_Amy, I really want to talk to you. I hope I didn't hurt you the other day, and hopefully you understand why I did what I did. I still love you. You know I do. I felt bad about just leaving you with that and not saying anything else to you. I really hope you'll call me back. Let's at least be friends. I love you. Call me back. Bye."_ And then the phone went dead.

I deleted the voicemail. I wasn't going to call him back. I shoved the phone into my pocket and sat down on the couch, not knowing where else to go or what to do since it was so dark. A few breaths later, I heard Ricky walking up behind me. I heard him put something down on the table that was beside the couch, and then he lit a match and lit the candle. Wow, this was so awkward. Ricky and I alone at his apartment- the only light being a single lit candle. Wow. Just wow.

And as if to make it even more awkward, Ricky sat down on the couch with me. "So who called you?"

I sighed. "Ben."

"Oh," he said. "What'd he want?"

"He-" I stopped, and I found myself being dazzled by him again. I couldn't really help it, though. I mean, we were sitting at his apartment together and the candle was practically lit right beside him. Embarrassed as Ricky was locking eyes with me, I looked away. "Uh, he just wanted me to call him."

"Oh, and are you going to?"

Ricky was still staring at me attentively. As much as I wanted to look away again, I just couldn't seem to make myself. I was surprised when I managed to get the words out, but there was tension in my voice, and I knew Ricky noticed it. "Definitely not."

With another loud rumble of the thunder, followed soon after by lightning, I saw Ricky's face clearer and a smirk was planted firmly on it. My whole body was trembling with nerves, and I could feel the blood running like a river inside of me.

"You seem nervous, Amy," Ricky stated. There was something about his voice that freaked me out. I have never hard him talk like that before. The tone of his voice, and the way he said it, just sounded so weird and off. Of course he wasn't nervous like I was, but he sounded like he was in a trance-- like he was possessed. He was probably doing that just to freak me out.

"I- I'm not," I stuttered, making it evident how nervous I really was.

As if he could read my mind, he said, "Let me make it better."

I gulped and couldn't say anything. Now I was so sure that he was trying to get me to fall under his spell. But then there was something that was confusing me. Why was he acting so weird about it? At band camp, he was just so different and now he sounds like he's possessed. It really is freaking me out. But maybe I'm just imagining it.

"I- I n-need to go get ch-changed," I stammered, blurting out the first thing that came to my mind. I stumbled off of the couch and ran down the dark hall, being careful not to trip over something. _Oh, no!_ I heard him running after me! I raced down the hall until I reached the door to the bathroom, but it was too late, Ricky had already caught up to me. I stood there, shaking in fear, not sure what I was fearful about, though. All I knew was Ricky was really scaring me. Maybe he _was_ possessed.

"Wh- what?!" I shouted, louder than I meant to as my legs were shaking beneath me.

He laughed, apparently noticing how tense I was as we both awkwardly stood together outside of the bathroom in complete darkness. "Amy, calm down. I was just coming to tell you that you don't even have anything to wear."

"Well, I don't need to change anyway. I- I just, uh-" Great. I couldn't even get the words out. So there I stood, making myself look like an idiot.

"Come on, why are you so nervous? There's nothing to be afraid of," he said.

"Oh, really? Then why do you keep looking at me so weird and saying things like _let me make it better_?" I was surprised that I managed to say that. I wasn't sure where the sudden confidence was coming from.

He looked confused. "Amy, I'm sorry that you're just over-reacting. I wasn't trying to freak you out or anything. I just wanted to make this as easy for you as possible. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. Just relax."

"Oh," I said blankly. Okay, so maybe he was telling the truth, but I still had to be careful. This is Ricky we're talking about here.

"Come on. Let's go back on the couch." _Oh, no. _He _is _trying to sleep with me. I knew it. I knew it! He grabbed my hand and started pulling me, but I didn't move. "Or if you want, we could go sit in my bedroom and... talk." Ohmygod. This wasn't good. I had no idea what to say or what to do. Stupidly, I nodded, not knowing what I was doing and I regretted it the second Ricky started pulling me again. I closed my eyes and hoped he wasn't taking me in his bedroom.

I heard a door open, and I opened my eyes. _Oh, god! _We're in his bedroom! My heart started pounding even harder as he pulled me over to the bed. He sat down first in the middle of the bed, and for some reason I sat down near the end of the bed, right in front of him. I didn't know what I was doing. It was like someone was controlling my movements.

"You look really pretty, Amy," Ricky said. _Someone just shoot me!_

"Th- thanks," I said nervously, and thank God my phone suddenly started vibrating. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw I had an incoming call. Without thinking- except for thinking I wanted to be off of this bed, I pressed the _talk_ button and said, "Hello?"

"Amy, I've been calling you all day. Can we talk? Where are you?" It was Ben.

"I- I didn't get your calls," I lied. He was probably unconvinced, because I wasn't really a good liar. "I'm with Ricky." Darn it! Did I just say that?

"Oh, I see," he said. "At your house?"

"Uh huh," I said, sounding like a little girl. I knew he wouldn't believe me, so I just decided to go ahead and tell the truth. At that exact moment, I just realized that making Ben jealous was definitely not as great as I thought it would be. It's only leaving me feeling as nervous as crap. "Uh, n- no. I'm not at my house, but-"

"It's none of my business," he interrupted me. "We can talk later."

"Ben, it's not what you th-"

"It doesn't matter. We'll just talk later. I don't want to know. I'll talk to you tomorrow or something. I just wanted to apologize if I hurt you. I really do love you, Amy, and I hope you know that. Talk to you later," and with that, the line went dead.

I hung up the phone and put it down beside me. I didn't know what was wrong with me; I felt like I was about to cry.

"You okay?" Ricky asked, only to make me realize that I was already crying.

"I'm fine," I replied. "It's nothing. He just wanted to talk, but I don't feel like talking-" I suddenly stopped, remembering that I hadn't even told my parents I was coming over here. What would they say if they found out I came over to Ricky's apartment?

"Well, we don't have to talk."

"No, I wasn't going to say that. I was about to say I don't feel like talking to him, but then I remembered I didn't tell my parents that I was coming over here.."

"Oh, well do you want to call them or something? I'm sure they're okay with it."

"Uh, no I- I won't call them. It's fine, they probably just think I'm with Ben or something," I lied.

I held my breath. Ricky was moving closer to me on the bed, until we were right in front of each other, our legs almost touching. I felt a shiver run through my body when I felt his hand moving toward mine, and he held it delicately in his. I sat there staring at him like an idiot, unable to take my eyes off of his.

"Don't worry about Ben, Amy. He's just not worth it," he said.

"He isn't?"

"No. He's not. And I'm not just saying that. You're really special, Amy. You deserve someone better than him. But I'm not saying that he doesn't love you, all I'm saying is that his love just isn't enough."

"And what would be enough? If I had sex with him?" I blurted, not thinking about what I was saying. I felt stupid and embarrassed, but I continued. "That's just what you think. But relationships aren't just based on sex. I don't even want to have sex with him. I mean- I didn't want to when we were dating. Ben hasn't touched me like you have, and that's probably what made him so jealous."

"He hasn't touched you like what? Like this," he said and rubbed his hand over my neck.

I froze in complete stillness at the soft touch of his warm hand over my freezing cold body. His simple touch on my neck warmed me up, like my body was suddenly running on electricity or something. "Uh..yeah," I mumbled, not knowing what I was saying.

And then he had his hand on my waist. It was becoming harder to breath and my stomach felt really fluttery and uncomfortable. My head was spinning and goosebumps covered my arms.

When Ricky was looking back into my eyes, holding me, it was like nothing else mattered. It was like he wasn't thinking about what happened at band camp, about school, John, Adrian, Ben, or just the complications of life. I was in denial at first, and I know I'm definitely not an expert at this stuff, but I could tell that Ricky was into me. And it wasn't just sex, I could tell, because the way we were sitting there staring at each other it was like we were actually connecting, connecting on a level that not even words could express.

I just couldn't help it. I know I had told myself that I wasn't going to fall for him. And as much as I wanted to deny it, and as much as I wanted to leave right now and just pretend this whole thing had never happened, I was totally and completely attracted to him.

I kept remembering this morning when he kissed my wrist. I could still feel the kiss all the way up the back of my wrist, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. The more I kept thinking about it, the more it was making me fall for him.

And then he did something that took me completely by surprise- he kissed me. But this time it wasn't just a wrist-kiss, it was an actual kiss, an actual kiss on the lips. I didn't know what to do at first. I didn't know whether to push him away or just to go along with it.

But as he kept kissing me, with his hand around my neck and the other hand on my waist, I had completely forgotten about what I was worrying about. It made me want him. And I knew this was bad, but I didn't even care. This was definitely something I needed to tell Grace. (Oh, yeah, did I mention that me and Grace have become best friends?)

I was kissing him back now, and now I knew what Ricky meant when he said "_He hasn't touched you like what? Like this?" _And in my mind anyway, what he meant by that, was that Ben hasn't touched my heart the way that Ricky just did. It felt.. right, and it left my lips tingling and my heart fluttering.


End file.
